Lot Details

"Umbrella" (2009) by famed Chinese Contemporary artist Liu Kun, (b. 1968) is a large-scale oil painting that is one of Kun’s best paintings to date. This work measures 55.12 x 47.25 inches (140 x 120 cm), is unframed in excellent condition.
A lone man is spot-lit at the center, as if he is on an immense, empty stage. Dressed in a blue parachuting suit with goggles atop his head, he gazes outwards as just as he is about to land on the ground, with only an open umbrella bent backwards to break his fall, instead of an open parachute. This work is a ironic and poignant example of the ongoing series of quietly intense paintings by Liu, that act as visual metaphors and weave cultural icons with elements of fantasy as a way to express his feelings about China's turbulent past.

Liu Kun was born in 1968 in Beijing, China, and received his degree from the Central Academy of Art and Design in 1992. The artist is an important Chinese trained Contemporary Realist painter, but is also influenced by Western art themes and styles, particularly Pop Art, Surrealism and the works of Rene Magritte. He has been included in multiple international exhibitions throughout China, Hong Kong and Europe and the U.S., including solo shows as CSart, Beijing, Yang Gallery, Beijing, and at Yan Gallery, Hong Kong. He has participated in Asia-Pacific Arts Fair in New York.

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